10 gauge connectors - such a thing?

[D.A.D.]

I'm brand new here - so here comes another stupid question. I will be pulling my teardrop with my car which has a 4-way wiring harness. I want to charge my Optima battery, located in the rear of my trailer, with a 10 gauge hot and ground wire.

I have looked and looked and nowhere can I find a two pole flat connector that I can use at the hitch for these two wires. I there not such a thing?

I have to have the battery in the rear because of an inverter I'm hooking up and also because of a weight issue. My other question is, will there be too much resistance in the wires coming the full distance of the front of my car to the rear of the trailer? I'm sure this would be a common thing to do??

Thanks for all of your help.

[Ageless]

Yep, they are called powerpoles. Ever see how a tow truck plugs in a jumper cable in the grill of the truck?

http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpoles/powerpole-sets/

[Shadow Catcher]

Yep powerpoles, Bought ten pair to use with my solar panels, wish I had bought twenty, I will use them in other applications. The ultimate in simplicity.
Voltage drop/resistance in DC is different than AC. I am using 10ga.

[BC Dave]

I wanted to do the same thing. I'v done some reserch and purchased a bunch of RV / auto electrical components. Supposidly its fairly common to do this and any competent RV repair place should be able to install. This is what was recommended to me by the RV guys.

One hot wire connected to the red + battery; 10 ga is good.

30 amp resettable fuse as close to the main car battery as possible.

selinoid; 3 prong was recommended to be connected to the ignition so you cant drain your car battery.

and I found a 2 pronged flat connector no problem; RV Princes auto; Im sure Can Tire would have it too. The ones recommended above look heavier than the 10 ga one I have but it looks fine too.

One word of caution I was given was to always disconnect the charge wire and connect the auxiliry after the car is started.

Dont start the car with the auxilary wire attached; exp if the car battery is low; you might draw alot of power needed for the starter from the auxiliry battery that the 10 amp wire, over a long distance, isnt designed for (ie ... thats why the car battery .... has those large wires .... over a short distance ... to the starter).

Hope that helps; it took me a long time to get the pcs and the right advice, you'll get various answers. If you find any new info pls post accurate info. I listened to a fair shair of talking and some BS ...

[emiller]

Napa has them also.

[Larwyn]

A 7 pin trailer connector is designed to handle the whole job with only one connector. Always worked fine for me.

[D.A.D.]

Thanks 'Ageless' for your reply. These look and sound like quite the connector. Unfortunately, what I found to now, is that they are not available in Canada - don't know why.

So, I have located a simple, flat two pole connector which I think would be watertight, and do the job, unless 'someone' says, "NO, don't do it!"

Thanks again.

Dave

[D.A.D.]

Hey, nice to see all the responses!

Well, NAPA up here doesn't carry them nor does Canadian Tire, nor does Princess Auto. And I've searched the web.

BC Dave - thank you, good lesson in electrical hook-up! Guess that means that if I use the flat 2-pole connectors, I MUST have a master cut-off switch just ahead of my trailer battery, that I will turn off prior to starting the car and then switch back on, prior to hitting the road? (So I can charge the trailer battery while driving)

While on topic, would I need any kind of voltage regulator in the system to prevent overcharging the auxillary (trailer) battery? I'll be using an Optima
red-top model 75/45.

And I thank you all again. Great forum!

[Ageless]

D A D, the voltage has already been regulated by the TV system; none needed

[eamarquardt]

Voltage drop/resistance in DC is different than AC. I am using 10ga.

Not so!!!

E always equals IR. AC or DC doesn't matter! It's a law of physics and even Congress with their infinite wisdom can't legislate differently!!

I once asked my son (third year engineering student) why the wires going into the transformer on the telephone pole are so much smaller than the wires exiting the transformer. His answer: PV=NRT!!!! Got a laugh out of that one! Correct answer is Power=EI and the current on the primarly side of the transformer is much lower than on the secondary side thus smaller conductors can be used.

Physics is cool stuff. Laws that must be obeyed!!!

Cheers,

Gus

[Mike_La]

D.A.D.,

Try Randy's Marine & RV Sales or Honda-Trails North on Highway 16 E.

Ask for a trolling motor plug & receptacle.



They're 10ga.

Also, try Cabela's on-line

[neil and ramona]

Thanks 'Ageless' for your reply. These look and sound like quite the connector. Unfortunately, what I found to now, is that they are not available in Canada - don't know why.

So, I have located a simple, flat two pole connector which I think would be watertight, and do the job, unless 'someone' says, "NO, don't do it!"

Thanks again.

Dave

company called awdirect they sell tow truck supplies they have them

[Shadow Catcher]

The difference is high voltage vs low voltage, power loss is given by P = I²R. Thus, if the overall transmitted power is the same, and given the constraints of practical conductor sizes, low-voltage, high-current transmissions will suffer a much greater power loss than high-voltage, low-current ones. This holds whether DC or AC is used.
A good calculator http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

[bdosborn]

A good calculator http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

But don't use the wire gauge table unless you plan on running single wires in free air. It really shouldn't be used to size wires for a Teardrop.

The Maximum Amps for Chassis Wiring is also a conservative rating, but is meant for wiring in air, and not in a bundle. <snip> NOTE: For installations that need to conform to the National Electrical Code, you must use their guidelines.


Bruce

[Vgonman]

I wanted to do the same thing. I'v done some reserch and purchased a bunch of RV / auto electrical components. Supposidly its fairly common to do this and any competent RV repair place should be able to install. This is what was recommended to me by the RV guys.

One hot wire connected to the red + battery; 10 ga is good.

30 amp resettable fuse as close to the main car battery as possible.

selinoid; 3 prong was recommended to be connected to the ignition so you cant drain your car battery.

...SNIP...

One word of caution I was given was to always disconnect the charge wire and connect the auxiliry after the car is started.

Dont start the car with the auxilary wire attached; exp if the car battery is low; you might draw alot of power needed for the starter from the auxiliry battery that the 10 amp wire, over a long distance, isnt designed for (ie ... thats why the car battery .... has those large wires .... over a short distance ... to the starter).

Hope that helps; it took me a long time to get the pcs and the right advice, you'll get various answers. If you find any new info pls post accurate info. I listened to a fair shair of talking and some BS ...

One option for that solenoid is to find the wire in your tow vehicle's dash that turns on the ALT light. If you tap into that to switch the solenoid, then you are assured that the 2 batteries are only connected when the alternator of the tow vehicle is charging.

That is what I'll be doing to my dual battery setup in my VW Vanagon.

Currently it's set up like you stated with the 2 batts connecting whenever the ignition is on.

http://www.vgonman.com/auxbat.htm